Volume 6

Pillow

Background

Americans usually have two or three pillows on their bed. Today, pillows
are stuffed primarily with materials such as polyester (a synthetic),
feathers, down, or a combination of the latter two. The least expensive
pillows to manufacture are polyester, although they are the most durable,
easily washed, and cause few allergic reactions. The most expensive is the
pillow filled with goose down. Feathers are a moderately priced stuffing.
Some higher-end pillows may be filled with a combination of goose feathers
and down, and that ratio may be varied extensively according to price
point (the more down, the more expensive). The pillow filling is
distinguished by the tag on the pillow casing, which must be there by law
in the event that the consumer may be allergic to the contents.

Pillows are still manufactured in great quantities in the United States.
They are also produced outside the country, but pillows are generally not
imported to the United States. Shipping is measured by volume and pillows
are extraordinarily expensive to ship. Some manufacturers have tried to
have pillows made out of the country—where labor is
cheaper—and crush the pillows during transportation in order to
save money. However, once the pillow is crushed, it is difficult for it to
spring back to its original shape and much of its plushness is lost.

History

The shape and contents of pillows have varied little over time. The
wealthier Greeks rested their heads and feet upon richly embroidered
cushions and bolsters. The Egyptians, regarding the head as the seat of
life, lavished much attention, detail, and money on pillows for the dead.
The Chinese, however, thought that soft pillows robbed the body of
vitality, and their pillows were made of wood, leather, and ceramic
materials. Some were even filled with herbal remedies to cure disease,
turn white hair black, restore lost teeth, and inspire sweet dreams.

For centuries, people slept fairly upright with not only a pair of pillows
on the bed but a large, cylindrical bolster as well. These bolsters,
sometimes nearly the width of the bed, were stuffed with down or some
other type of batting and closed up. They were placed against the
headboard and were the foundation for the pillows. Then, a pair of pillows
was placed upright against the bolster. The sleeper would prop himself up
against these pillows, resulting in a sleeping position that was closer to
sitting than reclining. Until about the mid-1800s it was thought this
position was better for the body.

Other fancy pillows were found on beds of the nineteenth and early
twentieth centuries. Sometimes large, square pillows were placed within a
decorative pillow cover and then placed against the pillows actually used
for sleeping on a bed. These were often removed from the bed before sleep.
Until
cotton
became easy to obtain around 1840, American women showed their needlework
prowess by carefully hand weaving and sewing linen pillow cases and
marking them with their initials and the number the case was within a set
of pillow cases. As the American textile industry flourished throughout
the 1800s, covers for pillows (which housed the stuffing) went from
utilitarian linen to the sturdy cotton ticking, still seen on pillows and
in fabric stores.

The traditional filler for pillows was, until recently, down and feather.
However, as fabrics changed, so too did yarns. Synthetic polyester filling
has replaced natural batts as it is has acceptable loft and shape
retention, is relatively inexpensive, may be washed, and few people are
allergic to it.

Raw Materials

The batting, or filling, itself is the most important part of the pillow.
The most expensive filling is down. This is the light, fluffy undercoating
of waterfowl, consisting of clusters of filaments growing from a central
quill point. Down has a quill point but no quill shaft and is more
resilient as a result. It is three-dimensional and therefore has more
loft. Thousands of clusters are found in down that trap warm air to
prevent heat loss. Duck down is smaller, more plentiful, and less
expensive. It is important to note that not all down is the same. Down is
rated by
fill power,
which is the volume of space in a calibrated cylinder that 1 oz (28 g)
measures. The higher the number, the better the fill power.

Feathers are the principal covering of birds. They are flat and
two-dimensional with a hard, tubular quill shaft that runs from one end to
the other. Because they are flat, they are unable to effectively trap air
and warmth. Feathers are strong, but not terribly soft. Duck feathers are
the most common type of feather used in American pillows. Many
manufacturers combine down and feather to make an affordable, comfortable
pillow.

An other type of filling is polyester, a synthetic material. The cheapest
polyester used for pillows is a continuous solid filament polyester which
has good initial shape but loses loft fairly shortly. A better grade of
polyester is called hollofill, which is also a continuous filament fiber
but has a hollow core that gives the pillow more loft for a greater period
of time than cheaper grade polyester.

The pillow filling determines the fabric chosen for the pillow casing.
While the casing is generally cotton or cotton-polyester, the weight and
closeness of the weave varies according to filling. The feather and down
filling require a more expensive, very dense, tightly woven fabric that
will keep the feather shafts from poking the sleeper and keep the fine
down from working its way through the cloth. Polyester batts do not
require such closely woven fabrics. These fabrics may have a starch placed
on them during their manufacture to make them stiffer and more resistant
to penetration. The only other material required for pillow manufacture is
a sturdy thread for sewing the pillow itself.

The Manufacturing Process

The following process will describe the construction of a polyester-filled
pillow, an inexpensive and commonly produced pillow. It is a small-medium
size operation which produces between 2,000-3,500 pillows every day. The
largest manufacturers of American-made pillows produce between
10,000-15,000 pillows each day.

The pillow covering must be constructed first. Sturdy cotton or
cotton-polyester fabric is shipped to the factory in huge bolts. The
fabric must be treated or
calendared
so that the sewn casing may be blown apart and easily separated during
filling. Once calendared the fabric is taken to huge tables and cut
apart—dozens of layers at a time—with either heavy shears
or fabric cutting machines.

Stacks of rectangular-shaped fabric are taken to the sewing machines. In
fully automated plants, automatic sewing machines are used to grab the
fabric and sew them together. These machines are quite expensive and
many plants still opt for people to do this work. In this case, a
machine operator takes two pieces and sews them together around the
edges, leaving a space of approximately 6 in (16 cm) open in order to
stuff the pillow. As the operator sews the edges together, the tag that
lists the pillow's contents is attached. The operator then turns
the pillow covering inside out so that the seams are on the inside of
the case.

The casings are moved to the pillow machine, which blows the polyester
filling into the pillows. The machine has been loaded with polyester in
one of two ways. More expensive machines need only to have an entire
bale (about 600 lb [272 kg]) of polyester inserted into the machine and
the machine unloads and combs it. Less expensive machines require an
operator to unload

The blowing machine blows polyester filling into a pillow case.

baled and tightly packed polyester by hand. Once the polyester is
inside the machine, the blowing machine combs the polyester so it is
fluffy and has some loft. The 6-in (15-cm) opening in the pillow
covering is slipped onto a tube on the machine. Then, a blower pushes
the polyester into the casing. Some machines can fill up to 100 pillows
an hour.

When the pillow is filled, it is taken to another station and workers
close the opening in the pillow case using an industrial sewing machine.
The pillow is weighed at that time to ensure that it includes the
requisite amount of batting.

The completed pillows are moved to machines for bagging them. The
machine blows air into thin plastic bags to open them up and then
inserts individual pillows. The bagged pillows are placed into boxes,
ready for shipping.

Quality Control

The process described above is really quite labor-intensive as it includes
many workers on the floor of the factory in order to fulfill the
requirements of manufacturing pillows. As a result, these operators are
able to scrutinize the quality of virtually all aspects of the
manufacturing process. Operators are vigilant that the dozens of layers of
fabric are carefully put down on the cutting table so that the fabric is
not askew prior to cutting. This guarantees that the casings can be
quickly and evenly sewn. Sewing the casing of the pillow requires careful
work and is monitored by supervisors as well as sewers. Polyester batting
must be de-baled by hand (metal bands are removed from the large bales)
and are examined to ensure that the quality is suitable for pillow
inclusion. As operators load the blowing machine with polyester they
examine the equipment for defects and inefficiencies. Workers are present
as the pillows are blown with batting. Then the stuffed pillows are
weighed to ensure that they are the weight represented in the labeling.

Byproducts/Waste

The primary byproducts of the polyester-filled pillows is the metal baling
bands used to bundle and transport the polyester batt. This metal is
desirable for recycling; one company has neighborhood recyclers pick this
up free of charge and recycle it (they may be paid a fee for the scrap
metal). Cartons are picked up for recycling a well. Because the fabric is
generally produced and calendared elsewhere, bleaches and finishes are not
a part of this operation. Polyester fibers themselves are not prone to
becoming minute airborne fibers. The 2-in (5.8-cm) or 3-in (7.6-cm) cut
lengths of fiber generally do not get into operators' lungs and are
not the health-hazard that other fillings are. Down, with its very short
filaments, creates a great deal of down dust, and it is imperative to use
masks to protect the lungs when working with down and, to a certain
extent, feathers.

The Future

Pillows have varied little since they were first used. They are now also
made with blends of hypo-allergenic fibers so that even people with
allergies or extremely sensitive skin are able to enjoy their comfort. In
this age of therapeutic remedies, some pillows are reverting back to the
Chinese method of including herbs to relieve aliments and give a better
nights rest. Orthopedic pillows are also advancing rapidly. They are
filled with or surrounded by foam (some even contain gel or water that can
be heated or cooled) that is either already formed or forms around the
head, to fully support the neck. These pillows help to relieve neck, back,
and lumbar pain. Some help to keep the head elevated to relive congested
lungs, sinus problems, and puffy eyes. One company even markets a pillow
with an undetectable speaker built in that plugs into the headphone outlet
in a stereo.

User Contributions:

The details given above are very interesting.I am interested in manufacturing pillows.Kindly let me know more about the machinery as I have seen a machine which also pats the pillows once filled.This is to ensure that the filling is distributed evenly in the pillow.Kindly let me know if this machine is useful or not as I heard the that the same causes the pillow to lose its density.Would appreciate your reply to the above.

I have some down pillows that need recovering. The previous cover was made by Harris Blue quality ticking( that is the label on the pillow). I am unable to locate that material or brand. Could you give me a point in the right direction as to where to find that brand or what type of fabric it is. As this does not look like the regular ticking that is striped.This is closely woven and very soft.

Thank you for your help

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